Tag Archives: Neil Portnow

Country Music Hall of Famer Kris Kristofferson will be recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy next month in Los Angeles.

Kristofferson and six fellow honorees - a group that includes The Beatles, Armando Manzanero, Clifton Chenier, The Isley Brothers, Kraftwerk and Maud Powell - will be celebrated at a private event on January 25 and acknowledged during the 56th annual Grammy awards on January 26.

In release, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said the honorees "have created some of the most distinguished and influential work in our musical history. Their legacies are timeless and legendary, and their creativity will continue to influence and inspire future generations."

LOS ANGELES -- The sentiment seems universal among recording artists: None of us does this for the awards, but it sure is nice to win.

Last April, the Recording Academy announced a category restructure that made it tougher for some groups to earn the organization’s recognition: For today’s 54th annual Grammy Awards, the field of categories was narrowed from 109 to 78.

Almost every field felt the impact, some much more than others. All gender-based vocal performance categories were eliminated and replaced with single genderless awards. In applicable genres, the duo/group category was combined with the collaboration category, and in every genre except pop, the instrumental music category was eliminated.

In Music City, country, Christian and classical performers felt the impact the most.

The reason for the changes, says Neil Portnow, president/CEO of the Recording Academy, is that the list of categories was reaching an unmanageable length, and the academy felt that having an excessive number diminished the merit of its award.

“For 50 years now, we’ve reviewed on a regular basis but with an eye towards individual situations and genres, adding a category here or there or eliminating another,” he said. “What we never did was take an overview of the entire process and structure. When you look at what happened in the last 50 years, what started as 28 categories was 109 last year. Does that mean five years from now we’re at 150 and 10 years from now we’re at 200, and what does that look like?”

George Jones and Gregg Allman on the red carpet before the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards Ceremony at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre (Photo: Linda Zettler/The Tennessean)

LOS ANGELES -- The night before the Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy honored seven artists with Lifetime Achievement Awards, three of them with strong Nashville ties.

George Jones, The Allman Brothers Band and Glen Campbell joined Antonio Carlos Jobim, The Memphis Horns, Diana Ross and Gil Scott-Heron in each receiving a tribute at the organization’s Special Merit Awards ceremony Saturday afternoon at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.

Honorees crowded a small red carpet, catching up with one another and talking to the news media before heading into the theater for the ceremony, which academy President/CEO Neil Portnow predicted would frequently move the room to tears. “It’s a very emotional day,” Portnow said.

Jones and his wife, Nancy, flew in just an hour before the ceremony after playing a show in Florida the night before.

“I think this is one of the greatest things that can happen to you,” the 80-year-old Williamson County resident said. “It’s not the end of my career, I hope, but we’re moving up awful close.”

A video of highlights from Jones’ career played before he stepped on stage to accept the trophy.

“I’ve had a great time living the music I grew up on,” said Jones, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992. “This is a great thrill. At my age, it’s good to be thought of for any award. I believe I have to thank the fans for making me a success.”